


Let The Right One In

by TheLostMaximoff



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: 3x10 reaction fic, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:23:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9459035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLostMaximoff/pseuds/TheLostMaximoff
Summary: He wonders if she’s ever going to let him in the way that he’s let her in.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There are spoilers for the newest episode in this. Also, thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos on my other fics. Feedback gives me life.

The chain on the necklace is too long. Cisco can’t stop thinking about it and it’s driving him crazy. He wanted Caitlin’s new power inhibitor to hang higher up, closer to her heart. He thought it would have been more poetic that way. He didn’t have time to properly measure though so he just picked what he thought was a good length. He realizes now that it’s too long and it bothers him. He’s an engineer for God’s sake. He should know the value of properly measuring things.

Cisco sips his drink and tries to divert his attention from staring at the glowing snowflake-shaped device hanging around Caitlin’s neck. She looks gorgeous in that dress and he wishes he could tell her that. It’s not the thing a best friend would say though. Cisco knows what he is, at least when it comes to Caitlin. For the longest time, it comforted him to have that constancy in his life. He needed it especially after his brother died. He still remembers the day after the funeral. She showed up to his apartment unannounced with a suitcase trailing behind her and a look in her eye that said she wouldn’t take no for an answer. He had hugged her and let her stay for as long as she could put up with him and his grief. Something changed during that time though. He still wishes he could explain it but it’s not something he can put into words. That was the moment that he let her in. That was the moment she crawled inside of him and curled up in a small corner of his heart.

He wonders sometimes if she thinks about him the way that he thinks about her. He wonders if she notices the care he puts into the things he makes for her. He’s used to people not taking a huge interest in his work. His family never did and still doesn’t. He loves Barry and the others like family but sometimes he feels … underappreciated. He’s very used to that feeling, so much that he doesn’t even realize when he’s feeling it anymore. It’s just always there. It’s different with Caitlin though. He saw the way her eyes came alive when she first saw that necklace. She knew instantly that he was the one that made it and she wears it now with pride. It makes him feel good to know that he did something good for her, that he didn’t fail her. He’s so worried about that sometimes. He wishes he wasn’t but he wishes for a lot of things that never happen.

“Thank you for this,” says Caitlin, her eyes flicking down to the power inhibitor. "It really means a lot to me that you did this.“

"Julian helped,” reminds Cisco, trying to sell himself short because he’s too used to it. "I gotta give him credit for the idea to make it solar-powered.“

"Yeah but you’re the one that built it and don’t try to tell me you’re not.”

“It’s not perfect. The chain’s a little too long and it’s kinda too bright.”

“It’s perfect and I love it.”

Cisco smiles because Caitlin’s smiling. He knows that ever since Christmas she’s been a little gloomy. They’re all living in the shadow of Savitar and finding out about Barry’s glimpse of the future hasn’t lifted that cloud yet. For the first time in at least a month though, he sees her really smile. He feels the space inside his own heart that belongs to her warm up.

“Hey, always happy to help,” he tells her. "Still say you should thank Julian too.“

"You don’t really like him, do you?”

Cisco has a love-hate relationship with the fact that Caitlin can always tell what he’s thinking even when he doesn’t want her to know. He doesn’t know what to think about Julian. He and Caitlin have spent months listening to Barry bitch and moan about Julian. There’s also the fact that Julian used to be Dr. Alchemy. Cisco hasn’t forgotten the sting of betrayal all of them felt thanks to Thawne and then later Zoom. He would be lying if he told Caitlin that he didn’t have a problem with Julian. He would also be lying if he told her he didn’t know why he had a problem with Julian.

“I dunno,” admits Cisco. "I mean I get why you went to him. He knows more about metahumans than most people. I just … we’ve all been through a lot, you know? You’ve been through a lot. I just don’t want him turning out like He Who Shall Not Be Named.“

"You mean Jay,” realizes Caitlin. "Cisco, there’s a difference between being nice to someone and wanting to hook up with them.“

"You have a dirty mind there, Snow. I never said anything about you wanting to hook up with Julian.”

“You were thinking it,” says Caitlin, lightly punching him in the shoulder because she thinks he deserves it. "Julian’s a friend, Cisco. I know we’ve all been burned before but it’s not wrong to let people in sometimes.“

"I just don’t want you getting hurt again.” He knows that’s not what he wants to say but the truth is also something she probably doesn’t want to hear.

“I know and thank you for trying to protect me.”

Cisco watches her smile again and thinks that maybe she’s right. He let her in even though he didn’t want to. He could have shut her out when his brother died and just left that space in his heart empty and hollow. He let her fill it though. He just wishes that she would let him do the same thing. He wants to make a home inside her chest and rebuild her broken heart so that it’s even better than before. He wants her to look at him with the same light in her eyes that she has whenever she sees something he made for her. He thinks that’s probably too much to ask of her, especially now. He knows he’s selfish for wanting it but it doesn’t stop him from wanting it anyway.

“Always,” he tells her simply. "It’s what friends are for, right?“

"Of course,” she agrees with a nod.

He catches something in her eye as she says it. He’s not the only one between the two of them that’s incapable of lying to the other. He sees behind her words and there’s something else in there, a glimmer of something that she probably wouldn’t admit if he brought it up. It’s there though and he feels something like hope coming from the space in his heart that belongs to only her. She keeps herself guarded from everyone and he knows this. She doesn’t let just anyone slip past the emotional armor she wears. When the right person comes along though, she lets them take root in her and refuses to let them go. He thinks that maybe he’s one of those people and, when she’s ready, she will let him all the way in. He can’t wait to see what they can build together whenever that day comes.


End file.
